FIVE days before his 50th birthday, Monsignor Alberto Uy of the Diocese of Talibon has received his early birthday gift after Pope Francis appointed him as bishop of the Diocese of Tagbilaran.
The Vatican announced the appointment of the bishop-elect on Thursday, according to an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Uy, who will be turning 50 on Tuesday, October 18, is a native of Ubay, Bohol, and currently the Episcopal Vicar of the Talibon diocese and at the same time the pastor of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Jagna town.
The bishop-elect will replace Bishop Leonardo Medroso, 77, whose resignation has been accepted by the Holy Father.
The resigned prelate first served the Diocese of Borongan for 19 years until he was transferred to Tagbilaran in 2006.
Uy’s appointment came two days before the third anniversary of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that devastated the diocese in 2013.
Uy was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Talibon on April 14, 1993.
A priest for 23 years, he also served as dean of seminarians at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City from 1995 to1997 and Vice-Rector at St. John Mary Vianney theological seminary in Cagayan de Oro City from 2006 to 2010.
He took his philosophical studies at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City and theology, first at the St. John Mary Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City where he earned his Bachelor in Sacred Theology degree and a Masters in pastoral Ministry.
Uy also completed his licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City. He obtained his doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy in 2006. (FP/Sunnex)